2 Long Island families file wrongful death suit in Maine pontoon capsizing

Two Long Island families filed a wrongful-death lawsuit in Maine against a boat manufacturer, nearly a year after a pontoon boat capsized on a lake, killing three people.

The lawsuit alleges defects in the 2024 Sea-Doo Switch, causing the 18-foot pontoon boat to overturn on Flagstaff Lake on Labor Day weekend. Kiran Akbar, 23, of Lake Grove, Farhana Nasir, 53, of Selden, and her daughter, Noor Nasir, 22, of New York City, were trapped underwater beneath the overturned boat.

Akbar and Farhana Nasir drowned in the lake on Aug. 30, officials said at the time. Noor Nasir was airlifted to Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, Maine. She died three days later, on Sept. 2.

Authorities said none of the passengers was wearing a life jacket.

The Nasir and Akbar families filed the lawsuit in Maine state court, alleging defects causing the boat to overturn. They are seeking unspecified punitive damages against the manufacturer of the Sea-Doo pontoon boat, Bombardier Recreational Products, its distributor, BRP US. Inc., and the Maine boat dealer Richardson’s Boat Yard.

Bombardier and BRP said they had not been served with the lawsuit and couldn’t comment.

"We have been made aware of this tragic accident and would like to express our deepest sympathies to the families," the company said in a statement. "We take any incident involving our products very seriously."

The families were visiting friends and fishing off a dock at Flagstaff Lake before boarding the pontoon boat shortly after 1 p.m. on Aug. 30, according to the lawsuit.

The boat took on water and "started to nosedive" about six minutes after going out on the water, the lawsuit states. The boat’s owner tried to trim the motor and then began to accelerate about 50 feet from the dock in water about 9 feet deep, according to the suit.

"The boat then capsized suddenly and dramatically, flipping over completely," the lawsuit said.

Some of the passengers were able to escape from under the boat and were rescued by bystanders. Akbar and the Nasirs were trapped under the middle of the boat, the lawsuit states.

Noor Nasir was pulled from under the boat about 10 minutes after it overturned. Kiran Akbar’s body was pulled from under the boat about 20 minutes later and Farhana Nasir’s body was recovered about an hour later, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit alleges the boat was prone to capsizing due to its design, and had been subject to a safety recall.

"The actual problem with Bombardier’s boat is its flawed and unsafe design that allows water into one or more pontoons that can suddenly shift forward when the boat decelerates at slow speeds, causing a forward pitching moment, according to the lawsuit.

By John Asbury

john.asbury@newsday.comJohnAsbury

John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.